I spent the night with A&J&the boys. Busy household, but I was able to read plenty of books to the kids and sit and talk with A! He loved his "40 memories" for his 40th birthday! Since I packed for 3 places; including a quilt retreat - my car was full. A asked me if I was running away from home!
The next morning it was ally-oop over the mountains and on to Portland. Stopped at the Apple store to consult about a password that wasn't working; Holly Hill to have fun running amok with my Christmas present gift card!!! Wheee! Yep, it's gone, but oh what goodies I found!!! To L&J's in time to go to the Intl Festival at the kids' school. We ate pizza; did the crafts and then each child sang an Intl song with their class. Fun and games. Then J&L went to a movie and out to dinner whilst the kids and I did secret Valentine's Day art projects. We had a blast! I've been sworn to secrecy until after V-day! Cute pictures coming up!
Sunday am was time to go to the retreat center. I had taken everything out of my car into J&L's to regroup and get ready for the retreat. L asked me worriedly, "Mom, just how long are you staying??"
It was foggy Sunday morning and I was glad to just be an hour away. But all was well, made it in good time. The retreat was for the Newport Guild - 58 crazy quilters out amongst them! We stayed at the Oregon Gardens Retreat in Silverton and it's a beautiful facility. The meeting room held us all and all our stuff with room to walk around! We had 5-6 flannel sheets hanging for design walls, the electricity worked wonderfully! A good time was had by all! And the food wasn't bad either!
First stop was to go to the quilt show. There are no flash photos allowed, so the only photo I have is this one. I did a sample wool candle mat for Wild Hare Fibers - it really turned out cute, don't you think??
If I was making it again; I'd make it bigger and possibly put a sun with rays reaching out to the ships. But of course, you can't do that with the sample. There's a cotton liner fused and stitched to the back. No picture, but I put a cute fabric with whales on it!!! It's what is under the boats, of course!
The main trouble with retreats is ... you NEVER get everything done that you take. AND you see a few more projects that you want to start! This retreat was like that!
I was working on Stacked Blocks - a blog tutorial by Jean MaDan. I love it! The blocks are a Bento Box-like block. And when you put them together - it really looks modern!
And other quilts in the room that I feel I must make include ... The Fig Tree pattern, Prairie Sweets Revisited. It reminds me of my Pies and Tarts quilt. But I might actually allow this one to be used! The difference is - you make 6" pinwheel blocks. And fat sashing all around. Then applique a circle strategically! I loved it!
And this lovely scrappy quilt "Simply Woven" found at Moda Bake Shop! Too clever and I can't wait to try it!
Well, coming home from an awesome retreat is quite the task! Nonstop fun and quilting always takes a toll. So I sat and read for a couple of days while doing wash, etc. Then back to business! My DH's nephew and his wife have a new baby girl. Receiving blankets were made and I'm finishing up the 'Name Banner' for the package. To be pictured later.
I made 4 fabric post card "tags" and now have to figure out how to poke a hole in them! because they are tags!
I also finished some darn cute (if I do say so myself) rows for a traveling row robin! A quilter's work is never done -so let's get back to it!
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